Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Raindrops On Roses - June

These are a few of my favourite things.

Golden Wings rose. Mick bought me this rose for Christmas 2013 and I absolutely love it. It's beautifully scented and the simplicity of the single, pale yellow blooms really does it for me. My tastes have changed where roses are concerned, I used to avoid them at all costs but I've got three in my garden now and I can see more in my future.

Home for summer. Eleanor's first year at university has come to an end and she's home now until the middle of September. It's strange at first when she comes home, having someone else in the house again, but we soon get used to it and I shall make the most of the time we spend together. Her year away from home has gone well, she's fitted in to university life without any problems and manages to look after herself without any trouble. She's loving the course she's chosen (biomedical science) and the exams she's just taken seem to have gone okay, we're just waiting on her results now.

Watermelon. My favourite of all the melons, I can't get enough of this at the moment. It's so watery and refreshing, just the thing for warm, summery days. The only downside is the number of seeds they contain but I suppose it's easy enough to remove them.

Poldark. What a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see this programme back on our screens just yet but I'm not complaining. This series has started well and I'm sure it will be just as good as the previous two. It's great to have a favourite back for Sunday evening viewing.

Days at the beach. When the warm weather arrives, I love to spend time at the beach. We headed to Fraisthorpe on the Yorkshire Coast on Sunday and we had a wonderful and relaxing day. Archie enjoyed it too.

What favourites do you have this month? How about joining me and writing a post about them?

I love having Eleanor home. She hasn't made many trips home over the course of this year but she's here for quite a period of time now so I'm making the most of it. I'm sure it will be the same for you when your family visit, you try to pack in as much with them as you can while you've got the chance.

I remember Poldark being on TV back in the 70s but I was only a child then, this new series has been a huge success. Eleanor's loving university and that's the main thing. Thank you, I think so too but I'm biased.

Love watermelon too but your right, even the "seedless" ones are sometimes a bit too seedy. Lovely rose - I have a few that we inherited when we moved here and I've grown to appreciate them more each year. Adding a few more is definitely part of the plan.

The seeds in watermelon has put me off in the past, I've found it rather fiddly to get them all out, but my technique must have improved as I don't find it quite so bad these days, the end result is worth it anyway. I love my Golden Wings rose, it's so pretty and it's got such a gorgeous scent too. I'd like to add more roses to the garden too.

University years seem to go so quickly. After their first year both our eldest found part time jobs in their uni towns so didn't get back very often at all. Then after uni they both came back for a year before heading off again. Now they are mid thirties.... Time flies

It would be lovely to read a favourite things post from you. I agree about the university years going by so quickly. Eleanor's boyfriend has got a part time job in his uni city so he's travelling backwards and forwards at the moment, it's a good job it isn't too far away from home. Daniel never came home again after he left for university, he rented a house with his girlfriend for a few months in York where they'd studied before finding a job in Surrey, so he's a long way from home now.

What lovely photos, and how pretty your daughter is, Jo. And what a dear little dog Archie is.We gave up on Poldark after the first series. Fed up with seeing the chap riding to and fro across the same stretch of cliff top, but then, if that was his regular route to and from home, then that would be what he would actually do! It used to clash, if I recall, with Mr Selfridge, and we much preferred that (and I couldn't be bothered to record Poldark, we just went off it.)Not that keen on watermelon, or perhaps those that I've had haven't had much flavour. But I enjoy cantaloupe melons (but not honeydew). Some Galia are nice, too, but all melons have to be lovely and ripe, don't they?Margaret P

Thank you. Eleanor's just found herself a part time job for the summer so I snapped the photo of her just before she set off for her first shift. I was the opposite with Poldark, I wasn't going to bother watching it but after reading some reviews I decided to watch the episodes I'd missed on catch up and then I was hooked, I really enjoy it. I enjoyed Mr Selfridge too, it's a shame that's been scrapped. We certainly have opposite tastes in melon as I enjoy honeydew melon along with watermelon but I'm not all that keen on cantaloupe and galia.

I don't think you'd be disappointed with Golden Wings, though mine doesn't flower as well as your Pretty Lady. Archie loves spending time on the beach, he gets so excited when he sees the sea and always has a paddle and sometimes a swim.

I love strawberries, they're the thing I miss most from the allotment but I'm like you, I only eat them in season. I'm the same with tomatoes, I rarely buy them from the supermarket at the taste of homegrown is far superior so I'd rather do without if I'm not picking my own. It was lovely being on the beach on such a gorgeous day.

Eleanor has finished her first year already? For goodness sake, where does the time go? She's beautiful, Jo. I'm sure you'll love having her home for the summer. Archie, as always, makes me smile. I hope he's keeping well.

These years are whizzing by so fast. Thank you, it's a bit of an adjustment having her home for a long period of time again but lovely all the same. Archie seems okay in himself but he'll soon be due for another scan and then we can see if there's been any deterioration in the MVD, we're keeping our fingers crossed that it's still in the early stages.

He's very easy on the eyes, isn't he? I love having Eleanor home and spending time with her. All her coursework has gone really well this year so we're hoping that the exams go the same way, she hasn't got too much longer to wait to find out.

Roses have really grown on me, I find myself looking at them in the garden centre and making decisions on which ones I'd like to add to the garden next. Thank you, Eleanor's worked hard to get where she has and I'm very proud of her.

It must be lovely for you to have Eleanor home for the Summer months although initially it is a little strange to have an extra person in the house. I haven't had watermelon in so long. I think I'll get some today, it's so refreshing. X

It's definitely a little strange when Eleanor comes home, Mick and I are getting a little stuck in our ways now we're home alone, but it is lovely that she's home for such a long period of time, we soon get used to living as a family again. Watermelon is perfect for summery days, as you say, it's so refreshing.

I too love roses & only have 3 in this garden, though I usually have many more than that. Eleanor looks so very grown up now. We also eat lots of watermelon here in Oz during summer. Archie is certainly enjoying that sand. Did you enjoy too? Take care.

I've never grown roses before but I'm loving them more and more these days, I'd like more in the garden than I currently have. Eleanor is very grown up now, it's hard to believe that my youngest child is now an adult and quite capable of looking after herself. I've been loving watermelon, especially in the warm weather we've been having just lately. Archie loves spending time at the seaside, we all had a lovely day.

I love your rose, I too am growing fonder of them but they don't like my sandy soil. Goodness, how quickly Eleanor is growing up, what a gorgeous wee gal she is! I was happily surprised when Poldark came on, fab show! Oh....bless little Archie.xxx

It's a shame when you can't grow the plants you want to because of the soil conditions, perhaps you could pop some in pots, though saying that, the one I'm growing in a container isn't doing as well as the ones in the ground. Thank you, yes, Eleanor's very grown up now. I love Poldark and was surprised too when I saw it was coming back so soon, I wasn't expecting it quite yet. Archie loves to roll when he's on the beach, usually to dry off when he's been in the sea but in this photo he was rolling on seaweed on a rock.

Wow, that year has gone so quickly, it's seems only a few weeks ago that you were posting about getting Eleanor's stuff ready for university.We saw the Golden Wings rose for the first time today in a garden centre, it has a lovely perfume and we were very tempted except we have no more room for another rose. Most of our roses are David Austin roses, guaranteed to have a great perfume.

Time passes by so quickly, it doesn't seem two minutes since I was getting Daniel's stuff ready for university, never mind Eleanor's. I must admit that it was the look of the Golden Wings rose which drew me to it originally, I love how pale it is and that it's a single variety, the perfume was a lovely bonus, though it's always nice to have scented plants in the garden.

It'll be good to have Eleanor's company. Our granddaughter has found part-time work a couple of days a week in a day nursery and she's pleased that she got the place until she starts her university course. She's allowed time off to join us in Italy with the rest of her family and we're looking forward to it. It'll be good to get to the seaside. We also have a Water Park near our home there. Archie must have been happy to have had a run about and roll around on the beach.

Eleanor's managed to find a part time job for the summer, she's never worked at all before but it will give her a bit of money so that we don't have to keep subsidising her. I think it's lovely to spend time at the seaside, especially in warm weather, and a water park will cool you off nicely too. I think Archie was glad of the cool sea water, he's not happy at all in this heat.

Eleanor's thoroughly enjoyed her first year at uni, though it seems to be over all too quickly. It does seem a good year for roses, mine have bloomed much earlier than usual and there's plenty of flowers on them too. Archie was rolling in seaweed in the photo, he's such a funny dog.

About Me

Thank you for visiting. I'm Jo, fifty and happily married with two grown up children and a dog called Archie. Take a peek Through The Keyhole into my home on the outskirts of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Here you'll see a little of what I get up to on my crafty adventures as well as snippets of family life. I hope you enjoy reading along.